Barry Streek A controversial proposal by the board of the SABC to refer senior appointments to the Cabinet for approval is likely to be challenged in Parliament. Chair of the SABC board Vincent Maphai told the National Assembly’s portfolio committee on communications in Parliament this week that the appointment of three senior executives, including its […]

He is one of the greats of 20th century music, but his career has soared and dipped, as has his personal life, encompassing political protest, religious conversion and rumours of secret marriages. Adam Sweeting on a ‘Byronic hero’ who, in his 60th year, is surprised to find himself winning over a new generation It would […]

Paul Kirk Amid growing complaints about unchecked air pollution, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Mohammed Valli Moosa has vowed to crack down on one of the country’s worst offenders – Eskom – as part of wide-ranging plans to combat the problem. Moosa said: “It would be unfair for us to crack down on industry […]

Barry Streek At least 1,5-million African people fled their homes during the first eight months of this year – an average of 50 000 new refugees every week – because of war, violence and political repression, says the United States Committee for Refugees (USCR). At least 10 African countries suffered significant population flight between January […]

President tells party caucus that Western interests are seeking to discredit him and South Africa Howard Barrell President Thabo Mbeki believes the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is part of a conspiracy to promote the view that HIV causes Aids. Mbeki also thinks that the CIA is working covertly alongside the big US pharmaceutical […]

A recent article has highlighted how Aids statistics can be manipulated by dissidents to prove their point of view Belinda Beresford There are damned lies. There are statistics. And then there is noseweek. That venerable organ of expos’s and investigative journalism has itself been used in a malicious distortion of facts to advance the arguments […]

Transformation of the media in the new South Africa has become a controversial topic Sean Jacobs Under apartheid, white South Africans enjoyed a racialised “public sphere” that excluded black people. Political media and news were geared to whites and media content largely reflected the skewed balance of power relations in society at that time. The […]

Mail & Guardian reporters A former South African army colonel accused by the United States ambassador to the United Nations, Richard Holbrooke, of supplying weapons to rebels in Sierra Leone has written to the US envoy vigorously denying the claims. The former South African Defence Force (SADF) officer, Fred Rindel, has told Holbrooke that the […]

Khadija Magardie Mail & Guardian editor Phillip van Niekerk and The Star’s associate editor Lizeka Mda this week served court papers on Minister of Public Enterprises Jeff Radebe and the African National Congress, kicking off a lawsuit that could set a crucial precedent in South African defamation law. Van Niekerk and Mda are asking the […]

Ebrahim Harvey Left field Coming on the heels of the Seattle, Davos and Washington battles against the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Prague last week has reinforced the rising power of the international mass movement against globalisation. Despite some major weaknesses it holds […]